The Common Is the Collective

The Analytics of Common Sense and Its Normative Consequences for Imagination

Bibliographic Data

ID19221981
AuthorsThomas Telios (0000-0001-5801-6791, University of St.Gallen, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume31
Issue1
Pages36-55
Publication date2026-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAngelaki (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0969-725X • E-ISSN: 1469-2899
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0969725x.2026.2620308
OpenAlexW7128988825
LanguageEN
References cited28

In this paper, I follow Avshalom Schwartz's (2024) recent suggestion to treat Aristotle's imagination as “the psychological microfoundations of collective action and thus helps explain how we can move from individual psychology to collective agency and action.” As I argue, though, imagination can unravel such a political function thanks to the fact that it is an affection (πάθος) of what Aristotle introduces and calls “common sense” (κοινὴ αἴσθησις). In support of this argument, I start by presenting Schwartz's reasoning as to why imagination can qualify as the psychological foundation of collective actions. Building upon that, I return to Aristotle's concept of common sense to sketch its functions. In addition, I qualify common sense as a σύνολον, a condition of individuation, and, leaning on Catherine Malabou and Jacques Derrida, an analysis of common sense as a collective event. In doing so, common sense is disclosed as a collective, both logical-analytical and normative, process that acknowledges, fosters, and accommodates difference. It is thanks to such an understanding of common sense that imagination can act as a regulative and inclusive fundament that can furnish the community with a common, yet inclusive and non-hierarchical or excluding common goal. In conclusion, I hint at further intertwinements of Aristotle's conceptualization of common sense with concepts like memory and utopia

Action (physics) · Agency (philosophy) · Collective action · Common sense · Conceptualization · Contingency · Foundation (evidence) · Function (biology) · Microfoundations · Evolution and Science Education · Japanese History and Culture · Study and Philosophy of Religion